The impact of insecticide resistance and exposure on Plasmodium infection level and prevalence in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

In Anopheles gambiae, predominant heritable insecticide resistance mechanisms cause major conformational protein changes, which would be expected to impact physiological performance, including the ability to withstand parasites, because the insecticide targets are essential components of the nervous system. Furthermore, multiple exposures to sublethal doses of insecticide could induce the production of detoxification enzymes in the mosquito, the costs of which affect vector competence possibly by limiting the mosquito’s ability to mount an immune response. This project is investigating how genetic insecticide resistance mechanisms and non-genetic responses to insecticide exposure affect Anopheles gambiae susceptibility to Plasmodium falciparum. The outcomes will provide important information to better understand the relationship between insecticide resistance and malaria.